The United Nations General Assembly on Friday approved a new world map projection that depicts Africa’s vast size more accurately, marking a major milestone for a campaign driven by African nations and advocacy organizations.
The resolution, sponsored by Togo and supported by African Union member states, was adopted with 164 UN member countries voting in favor.
The United States was the only country to vote against the measure, while six nations — Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine — chose to abstain.
The vote urges governments, schools and institutions worldwide to move away from the long-dominant Mercator map, a projection widely used since the 16th century, and adopt the Equal Earth projection, which geographers and campaigners say offers a more faithful view of the planet’s proportions.
On the Mercator projection, Greenland and Africa can appear roughly similar in size. The Equal Earth projection, by contrast, reflects the continents more proportionally, showing that Africa is in fact 14 times larger than Greenland.
The UN report noted that Friday’s resolution does not outlaw the Mercator projection or require countries to replace it. Instead, it recommends broader use of the Equal Earth projection.
“Maps shape our understanding of the world,” the global body quoted Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey as saying before the vote. “They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.”
Africa No Filter, one of the leading groups behind the push for the new map, welcomed the decision, saying: “We want to see accurate maps in schools, textbooks, newsrooms, businesses and on the digital platforms billions of people use every day.”
Several countries hailed the adoption and urged the adoption of the Equal Earth map.
“Changing the map obviously doesn’t change the world. But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on X after the vote.
The Mercator map was designed by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to help European navigators at sea, but advocates say it distorted landmasses by enlarging regions near the poles such as North America and Greenland while shrinking Africa and South America.
The 2018 Equal Earth projection, on the other hand, follows the Earth’s curvature and shows continents in their true proportions.
Geographers say the traditional map is only useful for navigation.
“Outside of that very narrow navigation application, there is no point in using it,” according to Mark Monmonier, a Syracuse University professor of geography.
